Another Good-bye and Bakery Hopping in Manhattan

Every time I kiss her good-bye, the scab that has just begun to form on my broken heart is knocked off once again.  By now, I would have thought – and hoped – that the pain and sadness that I experience when she goes off to another semester of college would have eased.  It hasn’t.  With each departure for the airport there are the hugs, the tears, and sadness.  The tears and sadness are mine alone.  She is an independent soul, fully aware of my love for her and so she happily flies away from the nest and onto her next adventure.  Is it only me?  Am I alone?  Is this normal?  Are there other mothers who share these same pangs of separation?  I confess that I have set myself up for this reality.  Years were spent making her happiness the center of my existence.  Where have the years gone between her holding fast to me through hyperventilating sobs as I left her at her kindergarten room, and now, when it is me who fights desperately to hold back the flood wall of tears until I reach the privacy of my own bedroom.   I recognize that this is but a transient stage – nevertheless, at times, it is painful.

There is a silver lining, a sweet silver lining, that goes along with these transitions through her years of college.  My girl has lived in two dorms and two different apartments in the three years since moving to Manhattan.  I have been fortunate enough to be with her each time she took up residence in a new place.  If she wasn’t going to be in my nest, I was going to make darn sure that she had a nest of her own – a safe, comfortable, and pretty place where she could escape the seemingly endless noise, commotion, and hustle and bustle that is ubiquitous to the streets of the Big Apple.  Also ubiquitous to the streets of Manhattan are BAKERIES!  And last week,  in between unpacking boxes, hanging curtains, and lining shelves – I walked the streets of SoHo and Greenwich and ate my way through every bakery I could find.  Don’t judge me.  I wasn’t self-medicating –  I was doing research – a delicious perk of writing a baking blog.

I’m embarrassed to admit that it has taken me until now to cross the threshold of Francois Payard’s Greenwich Village location.  It was on my mental list of bakeries to visit this trip and as Jael and I were schlepping from the laundromat on a hot and humid afternoon, I found myself passing right by that familiar red awning.  Too embarrassed to enter the premises with laundry basket in tow, Jael took a spot on the stoop leading to the doors of the bakery while I went inside to do that thing I do when I’m inside a bakery.  Of course all of the pastries were beautiful and enticing.  (If only I had had my camera with me.)  I immediately ordered a selection of macarons to sample.  Each was  devine!  But what really caught my eye on that hot summer afternoon were the ice cream sandwiches.  “Yes, I will have one of those to go, please.”  It was the perfect cooling treat and motivator to keep me going among the many boxes still to be unpacked.

There were other notable bakeries that crossed my path as I made my way around the hurly-burly streets of SoHo and the Village.  In addition to the tarts of course, Once Upon A Tart had muffins and biscotti definitely worth mentioning.   Vesuvio Bakery – which is actually Birdbath, one of City Bakery‘s green bakery outposts – is located on Prince Street and offers many of the items that we have all fallen for at City – Pretzel Croissants, savory lunch items, and COOKIES.  They certainly know how to do a great cookie.

Among all the various bakeries I sampled during this most recent visit, there is one that just absolutely WOW’d me.  Last Fall, pastry chef Dominique Ansel open his own pastry shop on Spring Street in SoHo.  OH MY!  I am not one who usually gushes over French pastries.  My dessert tastes lean much more in the direction of All-American pies, cakes, brownies, etc.  Short of a Mille Feuille I had twenty-five years ago in Paris, (which I will never forget as long as I live) – my Sweets tastes just don’t hail from that part of the globe.  Until now!  I have been converted, at least based on everything I tasted from this shop.  Let’s just start with the Salted Caramel Eclair.  Absolute Perfection!  Follow that with the DKA – Dominique’s Kouign Amann.  Or, Paris-NY – Dominique’s twist on the Paris-Brest with a choux dough and a chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter filling.  Sublime! – as was everything I indulged in.  I went to his shop a second time, and it is only because I had to return to LA that I didn’t go again.

Even more so than great baked goods, I thank g-d for technology.  Between skyping, texting, and tweeting, my daughter and I are only ever a key stroke or click away from each other.  (I think I might be happier about that than she is.)  Knowing that I can face with her through Skype or send her an “I Love You” text in the middle of her day helps enormously.  With frequent good-byes, comes frequent hellos.  So, I am already looking ahead to a visit back to New York that I have planned for October.  And, after all the happy tears and hugs are exchanged, I will be heading directly to Dominique Ansel Bakery.  Ah yes, that sweet silver lining!